McCraney’s nerves hurt his murder trial credibility: Attorney

OZARK, Ala. (WTVY) - His attorneys claim that Coley McCraney’s testimony would have been more convincing had it not been for jitters.

“If you’ve never been on the witness stand before, you’re going to be nervous,” David Harrison said. “I’m nervous every time I get into a courtroom.”

Some observers believe McCraney’s testimony did more to persuade jurors to find him guilty than anything else they heard during the nine-day trial in Ozark.

But despite the shaky testimony, Harrison said he would not change a thing if he had it to do over.

“I’ll put an innocent man on the stand any day, anytime, and anywhere,” he told reporters after a jury sentenced McCraney to life without parole.

The 49-year-old truck-driving pastor told a bizarre story about how his DNA got on JB Beasley, one of two victims the jury convicted him of killing.

McCraney claimed he and Beasley—who he knew as Jennifer—had sex in his semi-truck after briefly meeting a month earlier.

Not long after that, Beasley and Hawlett, 17-year-olds from Dothan, were forced into the trunk of their car and shot.

Harrison said jurors only got to see a few minutes of McCraney on the stand, insinuating that his story would have been more believable had he not been uneasy.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall would not evaluate the impact of McCraney’s testimony but hinted that what he said, coupled with DNA, may have significantly impacted the jury’s decision.

“I will say this I enjoyed that cross examination (which Marshall did),” he said. “Sometimes truth is able to come out under hard questions.”

Watch JB and Tracie: The Teen Murders here.

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